Science & Industry

I did some PI some months ago, setting up on 4 different planets in neighbouring 0.5 systems, but it didn't give a lot of income, so I eventually lost interest.

I know that low-sec planets have more abundant resources, so that you can suck in more materials with fewe extaction heads, but how much more abundant are they? Let's say I find myself a good 0.3 planet, instead of 0.5. What kind of larger amount will I get in? Are we talking about 10%, or more like 25% extra per head?

Your answer is 10 subject posts down........and now here

It's been a while since I ran PI in lowsec, (I primarily run them in nullsec) but here are some things to consider:

1.) Lowsec Custom's offices may be player/corp owned. If they are not, you pay more taxes than you do in highsec, that can really change their profitability. If they are, the tax rates very based on the whims of the owning corps. Many have low tax rates (1-5%), some have steep tax rates (5-15%), and some have F*ck off tax rates (50-100%).

2.) I don't run my PI to be the most efficient or profitable, I run it to be low-maintenance and decent isk. As such, I usually extract 2 resources, and turn them into a tier 2 product (like mechanical parts). In Nullsec, with all skills at 4, I can put down a space port, 6 basic processors, 3 adv processors, 2 extractors, and enough heads to easily keep the 3x adv processors running full time. In lowsec, I struggle to have 3x adv processors running full time, but could easily keep 2x adv processors running full time. I have no idea what you can do in highsec. (note, I use 24 hr extractor cycles, and pickup supplies about 1/week)
2x adv processors = 10 units of Mechanical Parts (example) @ 5k isk each. That's 1.2m isk a day per planet.
3x adv processors = 1.8m isk / day / planet.

W-space is pretty nice for PI but requires additional skills (scanning) and if you should lose your ship without a bookmark to get back in, your investment is lost and you have to scrap the planets. Each can cost anywhere around 10mil ISK to set up initially, so your first haul has to make up for it.

I find c1 and c2 w-space with static high sec wormholes generally busier than c3 with static lowsec connections. But still, if you see something on your directional scanner, even if it's probes, you can likely count on them being hostile to you. Sometimes I postpone hauling stuff if the connection is deep in lowsec, or should I be a lucky one with a connection to Rancer or Amamake.

Otherwise, one extractor can often keep a lot of basic processors busy, and usually a p2 production (like mechanical parts) as well for 24/7.

And check the customs offices beforehand as Gizznitt Malikite pointed out, sometimes people have built their own and set taxes very high or disallowed access alltogether.

I admit I do PI only for a year or so and sometimes still stumble upon new trick to make my colonies better. Can you share your hauling tips with me? I always got caught on jump from hi sec or 1 jump from hisec. I was thinking about mwd cloak trick but it would too seriously lower my cargohold and make me do more trips.

thanks for reply.